Random musings on life, society, and politics

Do you think it’s strange that Donald Trump and some congressional Republicans seem to be bucking the NRA?

Well, consider this. Since the election of Donald Trump, gun sales have, um, tanked. Yes, gun manufacturers are experiencing their worst business downturn in decades. Double-digit sales drops are even driving some gun makers to the brink of bankruptcy.

Why are the fortunes of the gun industry suffering? Well, for gun manufacturers, fear is good for the bottom line. When Obama was president, gun owners rushed out to buy firearms because they feared guns were going to be outlawed. Once Trump took office, though, gun owners stopped feeling the need to stock up, because they no longer worried that anyone would be coming to take away their guns.

So, in the interest of buoying up the gun makers, the NRA, according to some senior Republican strategists, has given Trump and GOP lawmakers the go ahead to propose new gun limits without the threat of retribution. The premise is that introducing and debating those policies will be good for business.

We need to see through this ploy and not be played by this seeming resistance to the NRA on the part of conservative legislators. They won’t be taking serious legislative actions to impose more common sense gun laws or to ban assault weapons or limit the size of magazines. It’s nothing more than a shell game intended to drive up gun sales.